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My dad and I often tell our photography workshop students they need to think of themselves as puppeteers. We try to control exactly where the viewers of our work will first look in our photographs. By using a super-telephoto 600mm lens as well as a 1.4 extender, I had a very shallow depth of field. Then I moved within 15 feet of the flower, which is as close as that lens will focus. Finally, I set my aperture to F5.6 in order to have the shallowest depth of field possible. This combination of lens choice, closeness, and aperture helped me isolate one tulip in this photograph.

Maybe it is because I am short, but I have always liked big things. I like big trucks, big guns, and big horses. Being the fourth generation of a family that owns an Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship, I have always been partial to the Budweiser Clydesdales. When I photographed these two Friesian horses today south of Ludington, I was mesmerized by their size and grace.

I am looking from the deck of my Ludington home at one of the most dramatic skies I have ever seen. These rare mammatus clouds are sweeping ashore behind a storm that rushed through earlier. This is an amazing calm after the storm.

I had been in the indoor swimming pool with my kids all afternoon at my dad and stepmom's new condo and not paying attention to the sky. Our employee, Aubry Healy, texted me a cell phone shot she had made up near Onekama of some pretty awesome clouds. I told the kids it was time to go upstairs and get changed. When we got upstairs and looked out over Lake Michigan, my jaw hit the ground and I went into full "storm chaser" mode. I knew I had missed my chances of getting a good shot in Ludington, but I calculated that if I drove down to Little Sable Point Lighthouse near Silver Lake, I might be able to get the shelf cloud over the lighthouse. After a long 30-minute drive, I was in position waiting for the storm and shelf cloud to arrive. Within 15 more minutes, the rolling clouds were upon me. I was on the bright side of the storm so the lighthouse was lit in magic light. I waited until the cloud was in just the right location in relation to the top of the lighthouse and clicked the shutter. My grin was from ear to ear as my heart was racing with excitement. My dad and I live to chase Lake Michigan storms!

I could not imagine a softer looking, more exquisite setting in which to photograph a snowy owl. The rising sun was just beginning to light and color the fog when this snowy owl landed on a frost-coated, grassy berm right in front of me. This Northern Michigan winter view felt picture-perfect to me as I carefully focused and exposed the image.

Phenomenons are exciting to shoot. Brad and I drove to Little Sable Point Lighthouse to photograph the rare occurrence of the planets Jupiter and Venus close to each other. An unexpected bonus was the rare visibility of lights on the Wisconsin shoreline more than 50 miles away across Lake Michigan.

I have always enjoyed the challenge of building strong, unique compositions utilizing reflections. In order to get the building, red roof, and tower of Au Sable Point Lighthouse to show up in the reflection, I had to lie on my stomach in Lake Superior. Thankfully, it has been a record breaking warm winter, but the water temperature still had my full attention. F8 at 1/200, ISO 100, 18-50mm lens at 18mm

Timbers and exposed iron bolts are all that remain of the Mary Jarecki, one of the many ships to founder along the Lake Superior shoreline. The shapes and patterns of the shipwreck fascinate me. F14 at 1/80, ISO 200, 14-24mm lens at 14mm

My hat's off to all of the Great Lakes sailors who have to work on Christmas Day and many other holidays. The shipping business on the Great Lakes rarely stops and they all help keep America's economy going day in and day out. Michigan is a better state because of these floating beauties and they make me proud to be a Michigander. F4 at 1/400, ISO 1600, 600mm lens at 600mm

Eye on Autumn

Pentwater Lighthouses

Upon discovering that, even in snowshoes, I was unable to walk over the five-foot snow drifts on the utility road to Big Sable Point Lighthouse, I had to figure out another way to get to the lighthouse. After using some good risk assessment, I decided my best course of action was to walk on the ice a few hundred yards off shore. After almost a mile and a half of treacherous walking and crawling, I made it to the lighthouse. Exhausted and hot, I made this image in seven degree weather, made chillier by 20 mile-per-hour winds. It was so worth the journey. D7000, F22 at 1/60, ISO 100, 10-20mm lens at 10mm

Rain Amaze

Northern Lights Over Epworth

365 Week

Custers Last Stand

Sailboat at Sunset

The Director

Mufasa, our outdoor cat, enjoys playing in the snow. We played chase the snowballs for a while before I made this image of his long fur blowing in the wind.

The air was cold, the water was frosty, the clouds were subtle yet beautiful. What a fantastic day to be capturing the Lake Michigan shoreline and Point Betsie Lighthouse! I was glad to have my waterproof boots on as I worked hard to compose this image. The ice-covered stump made an interesting complement to the lighthouse in the background. Now it’s just waiting for the right wave to complete the photo.